Container Volumes Show Signs of Cooling
Total container volume through the western Canada ports fell to 87,500 containers in June, down from 95,000 containers in May. Decreases were seen across both railroads with CN registering the first month of lower container volume this year and CPKC adding a third consecutive month of falling volumes.
Combined container volume through the Port of Vancouver was 70,280, down 6.9% from May. CN volumes through Vancouver fell 8.4% and CPKC fell 4.6%.
Port of Vancouver
Current Status
On-dock footage has dropped to more manageable levels for both railroads, according to the Port of Vancouver’s June 28 update. Late April appears to have been the time of peak volumes so far this year.
Recent weeks saw larger movements of platforms into and out of the Port of Vancouver area but the movements do not appear to be needed to clear backups at the port.
Recent Surplus of Westbound Platforms v. Eastbound | ||
Week | CN | CPKC |
6/24/24 – 6/30/24 | (530) | 447 |
6/17/24 – 6/23/24 | 886 | 165 |
6/10/24 – 6/16/24 | (599) | (103) |
6/3/24 – 6/9/24 | (205) | 304 |
5/27/24 – 6/2/24 | 173 | (37) |
5/20/24 – 5/26/24 | (138) | (188) |
6-month weekly average | (14) | 33 |
Total Train Volumes
Total intermodal train volume out of the Port of Vancouver fell 7.5% in June, with a 6.9% decrease on CN, and an 8.2% decrease on CPKC.
Canadian National
CN moved an average of 4.47 trains per day in June, down 3.8% from daily train volume in May and up 20.7% from June 2023.
Average train size marginally increased from the prior month, with 4 more platforms per train, but containers per train fell slightly, from 311 containers per train in May to 306 in June.
Canadian Pacific – Kansas City
CPKC daily train volume in June was 8.2% lower than May and down 19.8% compared to a year ago. Average train size was slightly larger in June, with 12 additional containers per train and 6 additional platforms.
Prince Rupert
Container volume through Prince Rupert also fell after 4 straight months of growing volumes. In June, 17,221 containers moved eastbound from Prince Rupert, down from 19,305 in May. Despite the 10.8% decrease from the prior month, container volume was still up 11.8% from June 2023.
Daily train volume fell slightly, from 2.16 trains per day in May to 2.00 trains per day in June. The average train size was the same in June as in May, with 136 platforms and 287 containers per train.
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